Chadayamangalam: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has dismissed a bus driver from service for causing an accident in which two college students riding a bike were killed last year. R Binu, attached to the Chadayamangalam depot of the KSRTC in Kollam district, was at the wheel of a KSRTC bus which fatally mowed down the students Sikha (20), daughter of Bindu and Ajayakumar, owner of Sikha constructions at Tholicode in Punalur, and Abhijith (19), son of Lakshmi and Ranjith R Nair, a military officer hailing from Kakkode in Punalur.
Families of the deceased students said that they would continue their legal battle to charge the driver with murder. Their persistent efforts seeking a probe into the incident and action against the driver had led to the termination order, which was issued by KSRTC’s executive director. Binu has been charged with driving recklessly. Various CCTV visuals from the accident spot provided sufficient evidence against him.
The accident took place at 7.45 am on February 28, 2023, at Nettethara, Kuriyode on M C Road when Abhijith, a BCA student at Musaliar College, Pathanamthitta, was taking Sikha, a second-year BTech (Civil) student at Vidya Academy of Science and Technology at Thattathumala, from Punalur to her college.
The KSRTC fast passenger bus was heading from Chadayamangalam depot to Thiruvananthapuram when it hit the bike, which was also travelling in the same direction. After their bike was rear-ended, Sikha fell under the KSRTC bus and died on the spot as her head was crushed under its wheels. Abhijith was taken to the Taluk Hospital at Kadakkal but succumbed to his injuries on the way.
The students lay bleeding on the road for around 20 minutes as no passing vehicles stopped to take them to hospital. They were finally attended to only after officers arrived from Chadayamangalam police station and Fire and Rescue station.
